Have you ever thought about how obedience is related to faith? How do you show someone you trust them? How do you show someone you believe what they are saying to you? How do you show someone you love them? I have been listening to a teaching entitled “The Obedience of Faith” and let me tell you, there were some things in it that were difficult to swallow. That’s how is it sometimes. Once in a while, God has things for us to learn that are not easy to hear and for me this was one of those things. Even though it was not a “jump up and down, shout hallelujah” message – it was a message I needed. There were things I needed to recognize and things I need to put into action. Let’s face it, we can hear teaching nd preaching and read our bible day in and day out, but unless we put what we hear and read into action…it does not do us any good at all. Faith without works is dead. I do not want dead faith. I want my faith working all the time.

Here are the key points I learned about the obedience of faith.

Faith and obedience go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. If you are not willing to obey, your faith is not working. I had not really connected obedience to faith, but when I stopped to think about it, I realized that the true expression of our faith in God is obeying His word and doing what it says. No matter what everyone else is doing. No matter how unpopular it is. No matter what. If we want to please God we need to obey him. Obedience shows Him that we have faith in Him.

Rebellion is dangerous.

Rebellion will keep you from experiencing all God has in store for you. Saul was anointed to be the first king of Israel. He was chosen by God and anointed by Samuel. However, because he disobeyed God’s instruction and refused to repent for his disobedience, he lost it all. The sad part of this for Saul is that disobedience is not the end. God is merciful and he will forgive our disobedience if we repent. Saul would not repent. He would not admit that he had disobeyed. He made excuses. He blamed others. And because he would not admit his mistake and repent, he lost his anointing. God picked someone else to be king of Israel. That is serious stuff right there! I do not want to miss out on what God has planned for me.

We live in a culture that somewhat honors rebellion. Be careful what behavior we are encouraging and excusing. Rebellion is not cute. It is not a phase that must be endured. Pride and rebellion are how Satan fell from heaven. It is not acceptable.

Rebellion and ignorance are not the same.

Doing something wrong because you don’t know any better is different from knowing something is wrong and continuing to do it. Once God reveals to you something that He wants you to change, you need to make the change. If you don’t make the change, you are in disobedience. Don’t plead ignorance when you know better. I have gotten myself into some big messes because I did what I wanted to do rather than what I knew was right. I’m guessing you have too. Most of us have. It is not pleasant to get to a place where everything is messed up and you don’t know how you’re going to make it right. But God. Thank God, He is so merciful that even when we are stupid and rebellious, he will forgive us and help us get back on track. Again, this is contingent on us repenting, admitting our mistake and asking for forgiveness. If we make excuses and do not admit our bad behavior, He has nothing to work with.

Correction is not enjoyable, but it is necessary and it is for our benefit.

In the teaching I listened to, the pastor gave this example: Imagine we are flying in an airplane. I’m piloting and you are in the back as a passenger. As we’re flying, I get off course and we come out of some clouds to see a mountain right in front of us. I will need to make an immediate and drastic correction to avoid slamming us into the mountain. Your ginger ale will spill and if you don’t have your seat belt on you may even fall out of your seat. It will not be pleasant – but you want me to make the correction because if I don’t, we will all die. Sometimes, the corrections God needs to make in our lives are drastic and painful, but they are for our benefit. Now here’s an important key – if we allow him to make little corrections often, chances are we will not need to experience those drastic, painful corrections to get us back on track.

Obedience is an act of love.

The greatest example of this is what Jesus did for us. In the Garden of Gethsemane before He was arrested and eventually crucified, He asked for a way out but He also said “not my will, but thine”. And then He did what Father God asked him to do. He was mocked and beaten and hung on a cross to die. He took my sin and shed his blood so I could live. And he did it for you, too. Why did he do it? He could have chosen not to go thru with it. He did it because He loved His Father. He did it because He loved us. He did it because of love.

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬

http://bible.com/1/rom.5.19.kjv

If you would like to listen to the teaching that inspired this post, you can find it here. This is not an affiliate link. I earn nothing by sharing it. Moore Life Ministries provides teachings free of charge…no cost, no excuse. Check it out. It’s good stuff!

I live in Iowa. It is a farming state. Most everything here is agriculture based. Whether you live on a farm or not, chances are you are somehow connected to farming. There are combines in the fields picking the crops, tractors on the roads carrying the crop from the fields, and huge mounds of corn or soybeans being prepared for storage. It is a frenzy of activity that goes on day and night until the harvest is finished. It’s impossible not to notice.

Watching all this activity made me think about my life and what I’ve been planting and what I expect to harvest. Galatians 6:7 tells us “..For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.” In farming, this is a given. We would not expect the farmer to harvest watermelon when he planted corn. No, the seed he put in the ground was corn and that is what is harvested.

But when things in life are not turning out the way we hoped, we start feeling sorry for ourselves and moping around thinking we can’t get a break, or nothing good every happens for us, never considering what type of seed we have been sowing that is producing this “harvest” in our lives. We must purposefully sow good seeds in our lives if we want a good harvest. Our heart is a garden and we are the farmer.

Here are the steps to getting a good crop from the garden of your heart.

Prepare the soil

In Mark 4:15-20, Jesus describes for us the different types of soil and how it reacts when seed is planted. In order for the Word to grow we need to make sure our hearts have been prepared to receive it so it can take root and grow. We must get rid of all the weeds and rocks to make good soil. Good soil produces a good harvest. Hosea 10:12

Plant the seed

The seeds we plant start with our thoughts. Nothing ever happens until we think it. Does what your thinking align with what God says about the situation? If not – get rid of it! Replace it with a scripture. Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2

Cultivate

Next, watch your words. What are you saying? Chances are whatever you’ve been thinking about is coming out of your mouth. Our words have creative power, so unless you want what you’re saying to happen – zip it! Psalm 119:172; Proverbs 15:2; Psalm 35:28

Wait

Finally, trust God. Believe that what He says, what His Word says, is true. In the physical when you plant a seed, you do not reap the fruit immediately. In fact, for a long time you may not even see any evidence that there is a seed in the ground. But you know it is there and you know with time it will sprout and then grow and eventually produce fruit. The same is true with God’s Word. When we put it in our heart, it starts to grow. We may not see any evidence for a while but it is working. Eventually it will sprout and grow and produce fruit if we do not give up. Galations 6:9; Isaiah 40:31; Ephesians 6:13

Harvest!

And then it comes! That thing you have been believing for is yours. That situation you’ve been wanting to change is changed. Just like a seed growing into a plant, we may not even realize the change is happening but if we stop and look back we realize it’s happened. It is time to harvest our blessing and put it to use. When the farmers pull their crops out of the field, they do so with a specific purpose in mind for that crop. We also need to use our harvest. Whatever you are harvesting – put it to use doing good.

And then it start all over again. Never stop preparing the soil of your heart. Never stop sowing good seed into that soil. Never stop believing that it is growing into a bountiful, useful harvest. And never stop using your harvest to help someone else.

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

“One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.” Proverbs 27:7 NIV

Have you ever been so hungry that you did not care what you ate? You just wanted something – anything! I have. And in those situations I have not always made the best food choices. Gas station burrito, anyone? At the moment I ate it, it tasted GOOD because I was so hungry. But after I ate it, I didn’t feel so good and I begin to regret that I didn’t choose something to eat that was better for me.

My father-in-law, after a large meal will sometimes say “I don’t ever want to eat again”. That’s how we feel – full and satisfied. The thought of eating anying is far from our minds, let alone dreaming of a gas station burrito. However, in a few hours food starts sounding better and the longer we go without eating the more willing we are to eat anything that is available.

It is the same with our spirit. We must feed our spirit on the Word of God to keep it satisfied and strong. If we do not, it too will become hungry and will cause us to be desperate to find anything to feed the hunger. Bad relationships, alcohol, drugs, even overspending on material possessions are classic examples of spiritual “gas station burritos”. It may be good in the moment, but afterwards these things leave us feeling bad. In my own life, I have made some poor decisions trying to fill the emptiness inside.

There is only one thing that will fully satisfy our spirit and that is the Word of God. When we keep our spirit full on God’s Word we do not need to look for satisfaction or fulfillment from other sources. We can make good decisions based on what God says about the situation from a place of satisfaction rather than emotional decisions based on a desperation to feed the hunger.

Spend time each day reading the Bible. If you don’t know where to start try Psalms and Proverbs. These books are full of encouragement and wonderful wisdom. If you read 5 chapters in Psalms and 1 chapter in Proverbs each day you will read through them in one month! Another suggestion is to get a good devotional -either in book form or on line. Ask God to give you wisdom and revelation as you read. If we do our part, He will do his.

What will you do this week to keep you spirit full, fed and satisfied?